Vulnerable young people are hoped to be at a reduced risk of sexual exploitation thanks to a scheme that saw a Barnardo’s worker embedded with the PSNI.

A group of teenagers, aged between 13 and 17, were known to police for going missing but the project has seen a fall in the number of times they disappear thanks to a closer working relationship between the charity’s Safe Choices team and officers who work with vulnerable children.

The young people, as well as their parents or carers, have also been made more aware the telltale signs of being groomed whether online or otherwise thanks to interaction with the Barnardo’s worker.

The project saw a Barnardo’s worker based at Willowfield PSNI station for around two years in a pilot project hoped to see a better exchange of information and understanding in dealing with young people who often go missing from homes where they have sometimes difficult relationships with parents or from care settings.

These teenagers often find themselves vulnerable to being sexually exploited when they are away from their care setting, sometimes at parties where older people can take advantage of them.

Jacqui Montgomery-Devlin from Barnardo’s said she hopes the scheme can be continued to help tackle abuse and “keep children and young people safe from sexual exploitation”.

She added: “We welcome the fact this scheme based at Willowfield Police Station has been shown to make a real difference towards keeping young people safe. While the intense one-to-one work with young people was a key feature, so too was the engagement of parents and carers, as well as the development of a good understanding and sound working relationships between Barnardo’s and the PSNI which enabled fast track referrals which are vital when young people need protection.”

An evaluation of the pilot carried out by the University of Bedfordshire’s International Centre Researching Child Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Trafficking found that said the feedback from the young people involved as well as their carers and social workers was “overwhelmingly positive”.

The report, seen by Belfast Live, found a “pattern of decreased missing episodes for most young people, following their engagement with the pilot” which meant they were less at risk of exploitation.

It also quoted parents of some of the children as well as care professionals on how the young people “demonstrating much more knowledge of grooming and internet safety” and were “more risk aware”.

A total of 20 young people were involved in the study with one fifth of them having a learning disability or being ‘statmented’ as in educational need.

One parent of a child was quoted in the report as having a severe dislike for police and social services, but the project helped change that attitude thanks to their building up a trusting relationship with the Barnardo’s worker.

The success of the scheme in reducing missing episodes also benefitted police in that they had to spend less time dealing with them, the report found.